By JOSH RESNEK
Casual observers of the local political scene are being led to believe the mayor has nothing to do with the choice of the next assistant city clerk.
After all, everything about the city council is having to do with the city clerk’s office which services the city council.
According to the city charter, the assistant city clerk is the council’s choice, exclusively, end of discussion.
If you believe that, you can believe that Martians are occupying city employee chairs in their city hall offices.
The mayor has recently instructed Councilor at Large Gerly Adrien on a Facebook exchange that he, the mayor, has nothing to do with the appointment.
This is like the mayor trying to persuade taxpayers complaining about the imprudent city budget that he has nothing to do with the city budget.
“The city’s CFO Eric Demas is in charge of the city budget, not me,” the mayor might well say.
“Demas makes all the financial decisions,” the mayor has recently said.
We know better.
When the mayor recently took $471,000 out of the School Department’s cash account without notifying the superintendent is against all the rules and regulations of sane and trans- parent financial management.
When he takes that cash away from the School Department and places it in a city account over which he exerts control, this is entirely his decision and his alone to make.
The mayor does whatever he wants.
There are presently no checks or balances on his power.
He is Everett’s Donald Trump – paranoid, jealous, small-minded, and thinking we are all idiots, including those who vote for him.
For the record, this is not a hate the mayor piece.
It is simply a piece that says it like it is.
The mayor runs everything about the city.
He manages the city like his own checking account – and only he writes the checks.
He treats School Department accounts like those we share with our children. We can take money from their accounts whenever we want without their permission until they are of age. The mayor believes School Department accounts aren’t simply those of the School Department, they are his whenever he wants to dip into the cookie jar.
Who gets paid, who is fired, who is hired, who is phased out, who rises, who falls, who is thrown under the bus…this is the mayor’s business exclusively.
The mayor orders the council what to do, who to hire, who to fire.
It is not the other way around.
Back to the appointment or the hiring of a new assistant city clerk.
Former Councilor Peter Napolitano is the mayor’s choice, and so, he is the city council’s choice.
Let’s face it, Napolitano is expertly qualified to be the next assistant city clerk.
Some city hall types have joked: “No one need apply but someone with the last name Napolitano.”
Napolitano will become the next assistant city clerk.
This is a certainty.
The mayor’s stamp of approval for this appointment is also a certainty.
Napolitano will get a vote of 11-0 very likely. 10-2 at worst. Napolitano has nothing to worry about and he will serve with dignity and intelligence.
That being said, some Everett followers of the city hall political merry go round wonder why the mayor wouldn’t use this opportunity to hire a qualified woman of color and ethnicity?
He has recently hired a diversity chief.
What, many wonder, is her suggestion?
Would the mayor listen to her if she suggested someone of color or ethnicity?
Of course not.
Why wouldn’t the mayor use this opportunity to mix up the leadership positions at city hall which are mainly and almost entirely white?
The mayor is like Trump. He talks a big game about being good for the minorities except doesn’t hire minorities, and when you get right down to it, he doesn’t hire minorities because he has no interest in Everett’s minorities other than lip service.
Politics remains tribal in Everett.
That entire construct is right now falling apart.
This is a minority-majority city with a nearly all-white city hall workforce and appointments.
How can the mayor possibly explain this away to free-thinking people who understand the world is being turned upside down by dramatic change?